Her Alpha Saviors [The Hot Millionaires #2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (12 page)

“You don’t know him.”

“I’ll pass, thanks.”

“I didn’t dump him because of that. I didn’t even realize that passion wasn’t around at the time.” Another brief glance at Jay, who looked pretty damned pleased with himself. “It was just that he tried to control me so much. He wanted to be involved in everything I did, and I found that inhibiting. It was like I no longer had a mind or thoughts of my own, and I started to doubt my own judgement. And as Dad’s condition deteriorated, Peter stepped up the pressure to do as he suggested.” She shrugged. “He was stifling me, and we argued about it a lot.

“Then one day I came home and found him in the bar. We weren’t open, and he was there alone, on the phone. He didn’t realize I’d come in, and I heard him talking to someone about the value of The Fox
if it went on the market.”

Both men sat forward and glowered at her. “And you didn’t think that was significant?”

“Nothing came of it, other than that I finally gave him the boot. He said he was just trying to help. He knew about Dad’s financial mess at the time and I didn’t, so I didn’t believe him. Anyway, Dad went into care, and I struggled on a bit longer with Peter. Then one day something inside me snapped. He was putting pressure on me to ditch The Fox, but
I chose to ditch him instead.”

“Did he have a buyer lined up for the pub? Think, Skye,” Jay said impatiently when she was slow to answer him. “It would explain everything. He probably thought your father wouldn’t get a loan, and when he did he started causing trouble so that it got swallowed up.”

“He wouldn’t go to all that trouble just for the commission on a sale.”

“Someone sure as hell’s doing it for a reason.” Jay sighed. “Did you know that he never takes his eyes off you when he’s in the bar?”

“Nonsense! It’s all over between us, and as the saying goes, we’re now just good friends.”

“He was watching you all the time you were playing darts.”

“Not me,” Skye said laughing. “My partner Annie. She and Peter are an item now. They’re thinking about buying a house together.”

“He told you that, did he?”

“No, it was Annie, but she’d hardly say it if it wasn’t true.”

“She probably wants it to be true and hopes that by talking it up it will be.” Luke shrugged. “No accounting for taste.”

“I saw him talking at you for quite a while last night,” Jay said. “And I say at you because he seemed to do all the talking. What was that about?”

“Oh, nothing really. He was just being nosy. He wondered why you two were still here and how our meeting went.”

“None of his bloody business,” Luke grumbled.

“Welcome to village life,” Skye said, smiling. “Everyone knows everyone’s business. We’re kind of like an extended family.”

“How did he take it when you told him we were staying on for a few days?”

“Well, he was surprised. Told me to be careful and…oh my God, I’d forgotten.”

“Forgotten what?” Jay and Luke asked together.

“It was he who took the message and gave me the wrong date for your visit.”

Jay quirked a brow. “Still think he doesn’t want you back?”

“It could have been an honest mistake.” Both men shot her a look. “Yeah okay, he obviously has issues. I’ll make sure I don’t tell him anything.”

Jay shook his head and changed the subject. “Is that waitress in today? The one who was screaming rape yesterday. I need to talk to her and find out who put her up to it.”

“No one did.” Skye flapped a hand, wondering what else she had to do to convince him that his sabotage theory was way off the mark. “You’ve been watching too many movies, Jay. There isn’t a bogeyman round every corner. I think Maisie just got annoyed because Steve wasn’t interested in her. Her pride was hurt, they had an argument in the kitchen, and she struck out in revenge, saying the first thing that came into her head.”

“I disagree. That was staged for our benefit. To put us off The Fox.”

“You’re wrong. Anyway, it’s Maisie’s day off today, but Steve’s in the kitchen. Feel free to talk to him. You would anyway,” she added under her breath.

“Great, I will.” He smiled at her. “Are we on for the reception then?”

“Absolutely, if you think it’ll work.”

“Oh, it will.”

“He doesn’t do modesty,” Luke told her with a grin.

“I already figured that one out.” Skye’s smile faded. “But will people come at such short notice?”

“Honey, people will go anywhere for a free lunch,” Luke assured her.

“Okay, Luke.” Jay stood up. “You work on the guest list. Help him with that, Skye, and also talk to the chef about the menu. Don’t stint on the ingredients. We’re out to impress, so it needs to be the best of everything.”

“Gotcha.”

“Okay, I’ve got some calls to make to get this lot going.”

“Anything else I can help with?” Skye asked.

“Yep. After lunch you can go back to your loft and get some sleep.”

“What!” She shook her head. “Don’t be silly. I never sleep during the day.”

“Sweetheart,” he said, dropping his voice to a seductive purr, “last night was just a rehearsal. Tonight Luke and I are coming calling, and you can bet your life you won’t get much sleep. We’d prefer you to stay awake and enjoy what we have in store for you.”

Skye looked from one hunk to the other, hardly able to believe her luck, and ran her tongue along her lower lip. “Well, since you put it like that, I guess I could do with a little
me
time.”

“Good girl!” Jay slapped Luke on the back as they left her glued to her seat, too stunned to move straightaway. “Don’t forget to go shopping, buddy,” she heard him say.

Skye and Luke had a brief sandwich lunch, sitting at the table in the kitchen. They’d spent most of the morning pulling together a guest list and issuing online invitations to the reception. Steve, delighted to be given a free hand with the menu, had risen to the challenge. Skye was impressed by Luke’s easygoing methods, the antithesis of Jay’s calm yet authoritative approach, and was starting to understand why they gelled as a team. Yin and Yang in action. Luke, obviously tasked by Jay, cross-questioned Steve about the incident with Maisie.

“Don’t have a clue what came over her,” he said, shaking his head. “We’ve always got along fine and then, out of the blue, she came out with those crazy accusations. It was like she’d undergone a personality transplant overnight.”

“Did you and she ever get it together?” Luke asked.

“No, we flirted a lot, but I have a girlfriend who would use one of my carving knives on my testicles if I cheated on her.”

Luke winced. “Did you lead her to expect anything from you?”

“Absolutely not.”

Steve spoke so emphatically that Skye believed him. Luke appeared to as well.

“Right,” Luke said as he and Skye took a tour of the renovations after lunch. “My orders are to see you back to your loft and make sure you stay there for the rest of the afternoon.”

“I can’t take the rest of the afternoon off! I’ve got a thousand and one things to do.”

“Yeah, you can. The new staff seems to have the pub under control, and there’s nothing more you can do out here.” He grinned. “You’ll distract the workmen.”

“Nonsense!”

“Even so, you’ll just be in the way.”

“Jay Blanchard does
not
have the authority to tell me what to do. Where is he, by the way?”

Luke shrugged. “He had some other stuff to deal with. Nothing to do with The Fox.”

“I see.”

He might not be here but everywhere they went there were signs of his ability to make things happen. An army of men had invaded the courtyard. Within a couple of hours it was devoid of the rubbish that had sat there for so long that to Skye the space appeared twice the size without it. Two men wielded power washers, blasting away scrawny weeds growing between the cobbles and removing years’ worth of grime. Skye had forgotten just how pretty the original cobbles were and felt a burst of pride as she watched them restored to their former glory.

More workmen swarmed over the reception room with ladders and decorating materials. That room was being stripped of all the junk accumulated there as well, and the walls were being rubbed down, ready for painting. It made Skye tired just to watch all the frenetic activity. It also filled her with hope for the future of her beloved pub. If anyone could save it, it was Jay and Luke. She had complete faith in their abilities. “Just because Jay’s not here right now, don’t assume he won’t know if you don’t do as he’s suggested. You can argue with him if you like, but take it from one who knows. In the end it’s far easier to do what he says.”

“But you’re his partner. Presumably you have an equal say.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Jay is very much his own man, and the title
partner
doesn’t really mean what it says on the box.”

“How did you come to work with him then? You seem to be great pals, but I’m willing to bet that he doesn’t let sentiment intrude on business.”

“It’s a long story.”

Skye strolled along beside him, keeping half an eye on the activity in the courtyard. “I’ve got the afternoon off, apparently.”

“Okay, if you really want to know.”

“I really do. I have a curious disposition.”

Luke laughed. “Five years ago he was considering rescuing the company I worked for in Maine. It was an engineering company, making machine parts, but foreign competition had taken its toll on the bottom line, and we were in deep shit. The boss refused to adapt, convinced the competition wouldn’t stand the test of time because American products were the best in the world.” He scowled at some distant memory. “Hell, the small-minded bigot didn’t think there
was
a world beyond America.”

“And did Jay bail him out?”

“He probably would have because the figures all added up to one sweet little package.” Luke pursed his lips. “Only problem was, they were a complete fabrication, drawn up by a local firm of accountants the boss had worked a number on. Small-town life in America isn’t a whole lot different than what goes on in villages in England.”

“Presumably Jay saw through the fake figures?”

“Yep, but only because I pointed them out to him.”

“Why did you do that?” Skye was surprised. She didn’t have Luke pegged as the disloyal sort. “Why bite the hand that fed you?”

“Because,” Luke said, a fierce expression marring his features, “the boss was my father.”

“Your father!” Skye stopped walking and gaped at him, not bothering to hide her surprise. “I know a bit about pigheaded fathers but…you sold out your own parent? Why would you do that?”

“Because he was a vicious bastard who knocked Mom and me around for sport when he was drunk, which was most of the time. When he was sober he was ornery, contrary, sullen—take your pick.” Luke focused his eyes on Skye’s profile. “To summarise, he was not a nice person.”

“So why did you stay around and work for him?”

“To protect Mom. As I got older I was able to stop him from belting her. I was too big for him to argue with by then. Like most bullies, he tended to pick on the weakest of the bunch, and that was no longer me.”

“He sounds detestable.”

Luke’s savage expression lightened. “I love the way you say
detestable
in that gorgeous accent of yours. I could listen to you talking to me all night.”

Skye very much hoped that wasn’t the way he planned to spend the night but let it pass. “Go on,” she said.

“I passed up on going to college because I knew that if I left, he’d start in on Mom again.” Luke inhaled, reliving some private hell. “Mom died a few months before Jay came along.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There wasn’t anything specific wrong with her. She just seemed to give up on life. Not that I can blame her. She didn’t have much of a life with him anyway and would never have left. I know because I tried to convince her to often enough, but for Mom marriage was definitely a
better or worse
deal. Problem was, she only ever got the worse.”

“She got you out of it.” Skye, aware of the pain in Luke’s expression, instinctively linked her arm through his. “I’m sure that meant a lot to her.”

“I sure hope so.”

“So once your mother was gone, you got your revenge.”

“Too right. I told Jay the story I’ve just told you, he saw something in me that he liked, and I’ve been with him ever since, doing as I’m told.” Luke grinned, back to his irrepressible self. “Well, most of the time. He pays me well, and I asked if I could invest some of my ill-gotten gains in his business. In return he gave me the title of partner.”

“He must think a lot of you.”

“It’s mutual,” Luke said without hesitation. “We’re like brothers, and fight like them sometimes, too. I’m one of the few people who can tell him he’s being a jerk and get away with it.”

“How come he’s such a highflier? He can’t be that old. Seems to have done very well very quickly.”